Container and lid assembly



D. S; BURNS Oct. 17, 1967 CONTAINER AND LID ASSEMBLY 'I'IIA FIB INVENIQRDouglas 8. Burns Attorney United States Patent O 3,347,409 CONTAINER ANDLID ASSEMBLY Douglas S. Burns, Des Plaines, Ill., assignor to AmericanHome Products Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of DelawareFiled Dec. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 526,924 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-60) Thisinvention relates to improvements in snap-on and snap-off container andlid assemblies of the type wherein a peripheral flange on the lid fitsover an outstanding bead rolled or otherwise formed around the upper rimof the containers.

In for-mer assemblies of this type, it has been common to providelifting tabs in the form of ears which project outwardly from theperiphery of the lid. In such forms of lid the flange of the lid issprung outwardly by engaging the lifting tab between the fingers of onehand to pull said tab while the other hand is used to hold thecontainer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly whereina portion of the rim of the container is exposed via an opening formedin the flange of the lid in which the thumb of an operators hand may bereceived to engage and apply downward force on the rim of the containerwhile the fingers of the same hand may be positioned to engage and applyupward force on the flange of the lid at opposite sides of said openingto expand the flange and thereby free the lid for removal from thecontainer.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of thisinvention, reference can be had to the following detailed description,taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a container and lid assembly in accordancewith this invention, with portions removed to disclose details ofconstruction.

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 3-3 of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line 4-4 of FIG.2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing removal of the lidfrom the container.

A container and lid assembly of the type to which this invention isdirected is illustrated in the drawings in the form of a generallyrectangular unit including a container designated generally by referencenumeral and having opposed end walls 11 and opposed side walls 12 ofequal height rising upwardly and outwardly from the perimeter of abottom wall 13. A peripheral flange of lip 14 extending outwardly fromthe upper limits of the walls 11 and 12 and an integral portion of saidlip 14 along each of the end walls 11 is extended to define handles 15for engagement by the fingers of a person to facilitate carrying of thecontainer from place to place. The outer edge of said handles 15 and thelip 14 surrounding the upper li-mits of the side and end walls of thecontainer are rolled downwardly and inwardly to define a continuousrounded head 16.

The lid, designated generally by the reference numeral 17 is preferablyformed of transparent synthetic resin composition such as molded styreneor acrylic resin. It will be seen that the lid has a relatively flatborder portion 18 which registers with the lip 1.4 and handles 15 of thecontainer when the lid is in will also be noted that the area of the lidwithin said border 18 is offset upwardly to define a dome 19 in overheadrelation to and coextensive with the area of the container within theconfines of the upper limits of the side and end walls of the container.An integral flange 20 extending downwardly from the outer periphery ofthe border portion 18 of the lid encompasses the head 16 at the outerrim of the container. Relative movement between the container 10 and thelid lengthwise of the side and end walls of the container when the lidis in closed position is prevented by inwardly offset areas 21 formed onthe inner surface of the flange 20 which have positive engagement withthe surfaces of the head 16 opposite thereto at spaced apart positionslengthwise of the container side walls 12. A detent 22 at the lowerlimits of said areas 21 have upward engagement with the underside of thehead 16 opposite thereto to provide a catch for obstructingunintentional removal of the lid from a closed position. Due to theflexible character of the material of the lid, the flange 20 issufliciently pliable to allow its expansion in a direction to free thebead from engagement with the areas 21 and the detents 22 when removalof the lid is desired. Thus the flexibility of the flange 20 permitssnap-on engagement of the lid so that the bead may be re-engaged by theareas 21 and detents 22 when it is desired to position the lid inclosing relation to the container.

In order to facilitate removal of the lid from a closed position, thelid is provided with an opening 23 which intersects the flange 20 aswell as a border portion of the lid in overhead relation to the flangeor lip 14 of the container. A portion of the lip 14 as well as the bead16 bridging said opening 23 is thus exposed so as to render the sameavailable for engagement by the thumb of the operators hand while thefingers of the same hand are positioned underneath the flange of the lidat opposite sides of the opening. Accordingly, downward pressure on theportion of the lip 14 engaged by the thumb while upward pressure isapplied by the fingers against the flange of the lid is effective toexpand the flange of the lid and thereby free the lid for removal from aclosed position. As shown in FIG. 3 the portion of the head 16 bridgingthe opening 23 is pressed from a full line position to a dotted lineposition while the flange 20 of the lid is moved in a direction awayfrom the bead 16 to permit the lid to be freed from a closed position.

What is claimed is:

1. A container and lid assembly including a container having a bottomwall and means enclosing the area occupied by said bottom wall to definethe mouth of said container including a side wall having an outstandingbead along the upper limits of said side wall, a one-piece semi-rigidlid of such size as to close the mouth of said container, a flangeextending downwardly from the peripheral limits of said lid adapted toencompass said head of the container when said lid is in closed positionrelative to the mouth of said container, said flange having containerbead engaging surfaces confined to portions of the flange offsetinwardly of the area bounded by said flange and spaced apart lengthwiseof said lid and a lip extending inwardly from the lower edge of saidinwardly offset areas with which said container head has closedposition. It

a snap-on fit to releasably secure said lid in closed position relativeto the mouth of said container, said lid having an opening intersectingan area of the flange and a portion of the lid extending inwardly fromsaid area of the flange centrally of positions occupied by a pair ofsaid bead engaging surfaces of the flange, said opening providing accessto a portion of the container bead bridging said opening for theapplication of pressure against said latter portion of the bead in adirection bottornward of said container to release sai latter pair ofbead engaging surfaces of the flange and the lip associated with saidsurfaces.

2. A container and lid assembly according to claim 1, wherein said lidis of transparent synthetic resin composition.

3. A container and lid assembly according to claim 1, wherein aperipheral flange extends outwardly from the upper limits of the sidewalls of said container and said bead is confined to an outer edgeportion of said flange.

No references cited.

d container bead from said THERON E. CONDON, Prlmary Examiner.

I. B. MARBERT, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CONTAINER AND LID ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A CONTAINER HAVING A BOTTOMWALL AND MEANS ENCLOSING THE AREAR OCCUPIED BY SAID BOTTOM WALL TODEFINE THE MOUTH OF SAID CONTAINER INCLUDING A SIDE WALL HAVING ANOUTSTANDING BEAD ALONG THE UPPER LIMITS OF SAID SIDE WALL, A ONE-PIECESEMI-RIGID LID OF SUCH SIZE AS TO CLOSE THE MOUTH OF SIAD CONTAINER, AFLANGE EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE PERIPHERAL LIMITS OF SAID LIDADAPTED TO ENCOMPASS SAID BEAD OF THE CONTAINER WHEN SAID LID IS INCLOSED POSITION RELATIVE TO THE MOUTH OF SAID CONTAINER, SAID FLANGEHAVING CONTAINER BEAD ENGAGING SURFACE CONFINED TO PORTIONS OF THEFLANGE OFFSET INWARDLY OF THE AREA BOUNDED BY SAID FLANGE AND SPACEDAPART LENGTHWISE OF SAID LID AND A LIP EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM THE LOWEREDGE OF SAID INWARDLY OFFSET AREAS WITH WHICH SAID CONTAINER BEAD HAS ASNAP-ON FIT TO RELEASABLY SECURE SAID LID IN CLOSED POSITION RELATIVE TOTHE MOUTH OF SAID CONTAINER, SIAD LID HAVING AN OPENING INTERSECTING ANAREA OF THE FLANGE AND A PORTION OF THE LID EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM SAIDAREA OF THE FLANGE CENTRALLY OF POSITION OCCUPIED BY A PAIR OF SAID BEADENGAGING SURFACE OF THE FLANGE, SAID OPENING PROVIDING ACCESS TO APORTION OF THE CONTAINER BEAD BRIDGING SAID OPENING FOR THE APPLICATIONOF PRESSURE AGAINST SAID LATTER PORTION OF THE BEAD IN A DIRECTIONBOTTOMWARD OF SAID CONTAINER TO RELEASE SAID CONTAINER BEAD FROM SAIDLATTER PAIR OF BEAD ENGAGING SURFACE OF THE FLANGE AND THE LIPASSOCIATED WITH SAID SURFACES.